Ohio transparency headlines
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Ohio.
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The indictment revolves heavily around Michael Fox's alleged involvement with a close friend and the owner of NORMAP Telecommunications, Robert Schuler. As county commissioner, Fox is said to have used his political influence in order to secure a contract for NORMAP Telecommunications that was worth $1.8 million dollars. [1] The contract was for installing fiber optics across Butler County. After the contract was secured for NORMAP, the company was bought by Schuler. As owner of NORMAP, Schuler is alleged to have transferred $360,000 to Fox in 2002 in order to help him pay off his death. Schuler is also said to have transferred $100,000 to a consulting company that was owned by Fox. [2]
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory has accepted $7,800 in free tickets to the Macy's Music Festival at Paul Brown Stadium over the past four years.
Hamilton County commissioners gave themselves first access on buying Reds Opening Day tickets, at face value, to the county-owned suite at Great American Ball Park. Sometimes the commissioners paid for the tickets with campaign funds and used them to reward campaign volunteers.
Many more county employees have free use of the luxury suites to entertain business leaders at the baseball games, to reward foster parents and to provide incentives to recycle. The suites are a perk from the lease agreements agreed upon by the Reds and the Bengals, which also include free food.
In 2008, county taxpayers paid for more than $20,000 worth of concessions for guests in the suites, such as Montgomery Inn barbeque, Donato's Pizza and Graeter's ice cream.
Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes has said the county should give up its ticket perks, calling it "a witches' brew of problems," yet the commissioners disagree.
According to the Ohio Ethics Commission, whose job it is to police the state's conflict-of-interest laws, free tickets to sporting events could, in some cases, "affect the objectivity and independence of judgment" of public officials in dealing with the teams.
County commissioners in charge of the suites say they're just trying to make use of the county-owned facilities: the two stadiums that were built using money from a voter-approved, half-cent sales tax from 1996.
"They're very common. I've seen them in just about every stadium built in the last 10 years, or 15 years," said Paul Anderson, associate director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University and an expert in stadium financing. "Typically those are used for charity, or when the city is trying to sell itself. It's not supposed to be for the personal use of county board members."
The tickets weren't intended to be free, as the lease requires the county to pay for all tickets. However, there is no record of the county paying for any tickets, according to the county auditor's office.
The Reds' agreement says that the stadium "provide a private suite for Hamilton County's private use."[3]
Cleveland, OH Brain Bardwell was ordered by an Ohio court on Monday to pay $1,050 to Cuyahoga County to cover the cost of the attorney who prosecuted his open records request lawsuit. Bardwell, who runs a non profit group called Citizens for Sunshine, made an open records request for documents relating to a potential medical mart, to be constructed in Cuyahoga County.
Issue 6 aims to remedy the problem of cronyism in the Cuyahoga County Comissioner's office. One of the current County Commissioners, Jimmy Dimora, has been investigated by the FBI for possibly helping individuals obtain county positions in exchange for campaign donations or kickbacks. Issue 6, supporters say, would counter such an abuse of power by requiring the county executive to be overseen by an eleven-member council. The county executive would need the council's approval before he or she could make any hiring decisions[4]..
In Sandusky County, Ohio Common Pleas Court on September 15, 2009, Timothy Wilhelm, 43, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and theft. He is required to pay restitution to replace stolen student medications and is ordered to stay 500 feet from the school, Stamm Elementary.
“It was my impression Wilhelm wanted to get this done,” Assistant Sandusky County Prosecutor Beth Tischler said. “(He seemed) remorseful, he seemed to have accepted what he did.”
Tischler said the prosecution will not recommend a sentence.
Wilhelm’s resigned September 5 and it was announced three days later at a Fremont City School Board meeting.[3]
"Nobody's stopping anybody from having access to public records," Columbiana County Clerk of Courts Anthony Dattilio said. "They just won't have access to personal information or personal identifiers in that record."
Clerks offices in Ohio will remove personal identifying information from requested documents before handing them over to members of the public, including attorneys and abstractors.
The policies are under the Ohio Supreme Court Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio and take effect July 1. They would strike information such as social security numbers, except for the last four digits, financial account numbers, such as debit card and credit card numbers or banking information, employer and employee identification numbers and a juvenile's name in an abuse, neglect or dependency case, except for the child's initials or a generic abbreviation. However, names and dates of birth will remain public record.
A person cannot walk into a clerk of courts office to request to see a file and have it handed over to them for their perusal anymore. The information that these new policies forbid will have to be stricken from the records before they can see it.[3]
Wyandot County prosecutors are charging Gilliland on 34 counts for allegedly tampering with her children's grades, all third-degree felonies, as her indictment categorized.
The indictment shows the alleged incidents occurred on or about March 26, 2008, June 2, 2008, June 3, 2008, Oct. 28, 2008, Nov. 10, 2008, and Feb. 13, 2009, the Advertiser-Tribune reported.[5]
"The Ohio Supreme Court has shoved the state farther down that slippery slope of keeping secrets from the public.
The court ruled unanimously last week that a report from a public agency investigating corruption allegations against that agency's boss is not a public record. It stressed that the documents used to compile the report are public records, but decided that the report itself is protected by attorney-client privilege."
"Gov. Ted Strickland largely followed public records law in responding to a Republican lawmaker's request for internal documents, but must continue reviewing additional records for possible release, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled today.
The court, in an unanimous opinion, said that Strickland responded to Rep. Seth Morgan's request for e-mails and other documents related to the governor's school-funding plan in a reasonable fashion. Strickland, a Democrat, erred by not acknowledging receipt of Morgan's initial request March 12 and providing a timeline for their release, the court said."
"An investigatory report from a public agency probing corruption charges against its leader is not a public record, a unanimous Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The court acknowledged that the records and documents used to complete the final report are public but said the final product could be viewed as protected by attorney-client privilege, striking a blow against Ohio's open records codes."
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